Computer crashed and won't turn on now

[GSNobody]

Hi PC

My computer turned off yesterday and now it won't come back on. When I turn on the power everything will start up, the power supply, the graphics card, I hear the hard drive kick on, the lights on the motherboard are on, NIC lights are on.... but nothing will show up on any screen.

I've disconnected everything one at a time and everything will power on, fans will run, but I can't get anything to display on the monitor no matter what I do. I disconnected the hard drive just to see if the motherboard info would come up, nothing.

I am thinking that the motherboard is fried, could it possibly be the processor too?

I have 3 of the same GPU's and I've tried different ones, I bought one new yesterday so I don't believe it would be the problem. I also recently upgraded the PSU.

I plan to go buy a new motherboard tomorrow, should I also buy a new processor or could I test the motherboard alone and I would be ok even if the processor is bad? (I would replace the processor if it still didn't run after the MB swap.)

I'm hoping there are some tech savvy posters who can help me make sure I do this correctly without breaking my very limited bank account.


Thanks!

ASUS P6T
Core I7 920
BFG GTX 260
Corsair TX-950W
Seagate 1TB HD
Corsair 6GB kit (3 sticks)

[radamanthys]

Hi PC

My computer turned off yesterday and now it won't come back on. When I turn on the power everything will start up, the power supply, the graphics card, I hear the hard drive kick on, the lights on the motherboard are on, NIC lights are on.... but nothing will show up on any screen.

I've disconnected everything one at a time and everything will power on, fans will run, but I can't get anything to display on the monitor no matter what I do. I disconnected the hard drive just to see if the motherboard info would come up, nothing.

I am thinking that the motherboard is fried, could it possibly be the processor too?

I have 3 of the same GPU's and I've tried different ones, I bought one new yesterday so I don't believe it would be the problem. I also recently upgraded the PSU.

I plan to go buy a new motherboard tomorrow, should I also buy a new processor or could I test the motherboard alone and I would be ok even if the processor is bad? (I would replace the processor if it still didn't run after the MB swap.)

I'm hoping there are some tech savvy posters who can help me make sure I do this correctly without breaking my very limited bank account.


Thanks!

ASUS P6T
Core I7 920
BFG GTX 260
Corsair TX-950W
Seagate 1TB HD
Corsair 6GB kit (3 sticks)

Dead monitor?

[Celephais]

It would seem you have yourself one of these:
http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?p=914228

[Endlin]

First thing I'd do is clear the CMOS.

Actually first I'd start the computer while holding down insert. That failing, I'd trip the cmos jumper.

[Amber]

Probably your CPU is ok. When those go, the computer will usually shut itself down within seconds of start up. When you replaced your PSU, You should have seen both an 8 pin plug and a 24 pin plug. The 8 pin has a plug covering four of the pins which should be removed, so that you have all 8 pins connected. I'm thinking maybe, since you just recently had it open replacing the PSU, that you may have just jostled the video card. I'd try reseating that and seeing if it helps. Also, you should have an AMI Bios, right? If so, listen to the number of beeps when you try to boot up, and compare them to this list.

one short DRAM refresh failure (Problem with memory)
two short Parity circuit failure
three short Base 64K RAM failure
four short System Timer failure
five short Processor failure
six short Keyboard Controller / Gate A20 failure
seven short Virtual Mode Exception error
eight short Display Memory Read/Write failure (fault with video card)
nine short ROM BIOS Checksum error (fault with BIOS chip)
ten short CMOS Shutdown Read/Write error
eleven short Cache memory
one long Passed (no errors)
one long, two short Video failure
one long, three short Base / Extended Memory failure
one long, eight short Display / Retrace Test failure

[Jayvn]

I usually switch my ram sticks.. don't ask why..and I know when I need to do it..it makes a very recognizable beep noise to me... by switch i mean switch the 2 with one another.. after that..i'd move onto other shit...
actually the first question i think goes
is the computer plugged in
is the computer turned on
is the monitor turned on
is the monitor plugged in
is the monitor plugged into the computer
etc...

[Jayvn]

Canned air is also your friend..

[Clove]

Test a known good monitor on it THEN test a known good video card on it. THEN throw out the mobo. Sounds like you done got yourself a paperweight.

[Celephais]

Does it weigh more than a duck?!

[GSNobody]

Here's the power on sequence:

Turn the power on,
PSU fan comes on,
CPU fan comes on,
GPU fan comes on,
3-5 seconds later, the hard drive clicks (kinda hard) and runs (I can feel it)
Nothing displays on either monitor at any time.

I have 3 monitors, all working fine (tested) via laptop.
I have 3 video cards, all did work fine prior to yesterday, plus one of them I bought yesterday so it shouldn't be bad unless I fried it.


Something I may not have mentioned in my original late nite desperation... The PC was on and working fine, some of the cables had fallen down from inside the top of the case, so I reached in and moved the cables. That's when the PC shut off immediately. I thought I just knocked something lose, so I opened it up and checked all the cables. When I turned it on again, it shut off sort of immediately. So I started checking all of my connections again, and then nothing would come on any display.

I have never fried any piece of equipment before, but I believe I may have screwed myself here by trying to move cables when the PC was running. I've looked at all the pieces and I don't see anything blackened, or burned, but nothing is working.

I've never not had anything display on the screen and since I know the GPU is good, as well as the monitor, it makes me believe I killed the MB.

Should I:

A) Replace only the MB
B) Replace the MB and CPU
C) Replace the HD + MB?
D) Throw it out the fucking window!!



Thanks again for all the help, I don't know what the CMOS bit is, I'm sort of an amateur.

[Celephais]

I have never fried any piece of equipment before
Congratulations on your first!


Should I:

A) Replace only the MB
B) Replace the MB and CPU
C) Replace the HD + MB?
D) Throw it out the fucking window!!
Odds are you did not fry your CPU, just change out the MB. The HDD is likely fine as well, possibly corrupted some data, but I don't think you'd have seen a head crash for just shorting out your MB.


Thanks again for all the help, I don't know what the CMOS bit is, I'm sort of an amateur.

Look for a little watch battery attached to your MB, take it out for a little bit, put it back in, try starting it up again.

Also welcome to the PC, I find it odd that your first post is looking for technical advice, I'm guessing this is an alt account? Not sure why you'd suddenly quit lurking for computer advice.

[GSNobody]

Look for a little watch battery attached to your MB, take it out for a little bit, put it back in, try starting it up again.


THANK YOU JESUS

I did this and now I can get into BIOS, I'm going to clear the CMOS and try to reboot.



Also welcome to the PC, I find it odd that your first post is looking for technical advice, I'm guessing this is an alt account? Not sure why you'd suddenly quit lurking for computer advice.

It was late and I couldn't remember my password :(

Thank you though, I think you guys may have saved me a couple hundred bucks.

[radamanthys]

Haha, Cele posted before I could.

Bastard!

[Asrial]

Technically it was Endlin that first had the answer :P

Is it working now GSNobody?